England captain Alastair Cook is hoping to see the real Chris Tremlett surface in time for the summer's Ashes series against Australia.

Tremlett, 31, was named earlier this week in the England performance squad after a prolonged battle with injuries including a bulging disc which required surgery. The 6ft 7ins Surrey paceman was the leading wicket-taker in the series against Sri Lanka in 2011 and, more significantly, helped England win the Ashes series of 2010-11.

Cook, who was speaking at the launch of the NatWest CricketForce initiative aimed at rejuvenating cricket clubs, said: "We saw in Australia, when he was fully fit, what he can bring to any bowling attack, his line and length there were pretty much immaculate throughout those three Test matches he played and he became very hard to score off."

England's captain continued: "It's great to see him back fit. He's obviously got to play a lot of cricket again to get up to the rigours of bowling, especially if you're going into any Test match with a three-man seam attack, you've got to be pretty confident that all the guys will get through.

"He's got a lot of work to do and he knows that. But he brings something different which not many other bowlers in the world do at 6ft 7in.

"It increases the competition and the choices. When everyone's fully fit and bowling well we've got a lot of our options covered, especially the seam attack. As a captain that's quite a good place to be."

The attack, however, could miss the wiles of spinner Graeme Swann for the home series against New Zealand, which starts in May. Swann missed the drawn tour to New Zealand to undergo surgery on his problematic elbow but is hopeful of returning in time to face Australia in July.

Cook said: "He's obviously a big miss. He's a huge part of our success over the last couple of years with his ability to always look at the lighter side of the game.

"He can take a lot of credit for making people relaxed playing for England. He's taken 200 Test wickets, his knowledge and nous are missed when he's not there.

"He won't want me to say it but he's 34 now. He's played a lot of cricket. He's seen situations before, we've got a good group of senior players in the Test team. You look round and feel confident about that."